EP3024120B1

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Info

Publication number: EP3024120B1
Application number: EP13889173.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Takahiko Murayama; Yuji Maekawa
Original assignee: IHI Corp
Current assignee: IHI Corp
Priority date: 2013-07-12
Filing date: 2013-07-12
Publication date: 2020-08-19
Anticipated expiration: 2033-07-12
Also published as: US20160087457A1; CN105340154A; US9787104B2; WO2015004806A1; CN105340154B; EP3024120A1; EP3024120A4

Description

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a power transmission system.

Background Art

Wireless power supply methods such as an electromagnetic induction method, a radio wave receiving method, an electric field coupling method, and a magnetic field resonance method are known. Among these methods, the magnetic field resonance method relates to a technique in which each of the side of a power transmitting device and the side of a power receiving device includes an LC resonance circuit, which is made up of a coil and a capacitor, and a magnetic field between the two LC resonance circuits is resonated to wirelessly transmit electric power (see Patent Document 1 described below).
In comparison with the electromagnetic induction method that is widely put to practical use, the magnetic resonance method is possible to realize highly efficient and long-distance power transmission under a weak magnetic field, and is attracting attention as a next-generation wireless power transmission technique available for charging portable terminals, electric vehicles, and the like.
Attention is also drawn to the disclosure ofUS2012/306285A1.

Document of Related Art

Patent Document

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No.2011-147271

Summary of Invention

Technical Problem

The power transmission system of the wireless power supplying method (particularly, the magnetic field resonance method) is made up of a power transmitting device that amplifies alternating current power supplied from an alternating current power source using an amplifier and then wirelessly transmits the amplified alternating current power using a power transmitting side resonance coil, and a power receiving device that converts the alternating current power received by a power-receiving side resonance coil into direct current power using a rectifier and further converts the rectified direct current power into desired direct current power (e.g., charging power of a storage battery) using a direct current converter (DC-DC converter). At the side of the power receiving device, the rectifier and the direct current converter may be integrally incorporated to serve as a charger (AC-DC converter).
When the power transmission from the power transmitting device to the power receiving device is started, if an output voltage of the amplifier of the power transmitting device is raised in a state in which no impedance is matched (that is, in which no direct current converter does not operate), an output voltage of the rectifier at the side of the power receiving device may be influenced by a Q factor of the LC resonance circuit, and may be higher than the output voltage of the amplifier. Since a high voltage generated in this way is suddenly (several seconds or less) applied to the direct current converter in a stage subsequent to the rectifier, the generated high voltage may exceed a withstanding voltage value of the direct current converter and damage the direct current converter.
In addition, in a state in which power (control power) is not applied to a control device such as a microcomputer for controlling the direct current converter, or in a state in which the control device is unstable when started, a high voltage may be applied to the direct current converter, and unexpected trouble such as overrun of the direct current converter may occur. To avoid such overrun of the direct current converter, a power storage device such as a storage battery or a capacitor for supplying the control power needs to be separately prepared, which leads to a rise in cost.
The present invention is conceived in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a power transmission system capable of preventing damage to a direct current converter provided in a stage subsequent to a rectifier at a side of a power receiving device without separately preparing a power storage device.

Solution to Problem

To achieve the aforementioned object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power transmission system that includes: a power transmitting device configured to convert supplied alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power into AC power and transmit the converted AC power via a transmission path; and a power receiving device configured to receive the AC power via the transmission path. The power transmitting device includes: an AC converter configured to perform AC conversion on the supplied AC or DC power; a power transmitting side resonance coil configured to wirelessly transmit the AC power obtained from the AC converter under a magnetic field resonance method; and a power-transmitting side control device configured to control the AC converter. The power receiving device includes: a power-receiving side resonance coil configured to wirelessly receive the AC power from the power-transmitting side resonance coil; a rectifier configured to convert the AC power received by the power-receiving side resonance coil into the DC power; a DC converter configured to perform DC conversion on the DC power output from the rectifier; a power-receiving side control device configured to control the DC converter; and a power-source circuit configured to generate a control power voltage from an output voltage of the rectifier and output the generated control power voltage to the power-receiving side control device. The power-receiving side control device is configured to measure the output voltage of the rectifier after being activated by input of the control power voltage and to transmit a measurement result to the power-transmitting side control device. The power-transmitting side control device is configured to control the AC converter for a period from a transmission start time of the AC power to a time when the measurement result of the output voltage of the rectifier is received so that the output voltage of the rectifier is gradually raised without exceeding a value suitable as an input voltage of the DC converter, and, after receiving the measurement result, to control the AC converter based on the measurement result so that the output voltage of the rectifier becomes the suitable value.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the power-receiving side control device is configured to start to control the DC converter when the output voltage of the rectifier becomes the suitable value as the input voltage of the DC converter.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the present invention, as the output voltage of the rectifier is gradually raised in a state in which impedance is not matched (that is, in a state in which the power converter does not operate) at the power transmission start time, it is possible to prevent damage to the power converter. After the power-receiving side control device is surely activated, as the output voltage of the rectifier becomes the suitable value as the input voltage of the DC converter, it is possible to prevent unexpected trouble such as overrun of the DC converter. In addition, no power storage device for preventing the overrun of the DC converter needs to be separately prepared, and a rise in cost can also be suppressed.

Brief Description of Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic constitutional view of a power transmission system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a timing chart showing a temporal correspondence relation among an output voltage of a rectifier (that is, an input voltage of a DC-DC converter), a control power voltage (that is, an output voltage of a regulator), and an operating state of a power-receiving side control device.

Description of Embodiments

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Fig. 1 is a schematic constitutional view of a power transmission system A according to the present embodiment. As shown inFig. 1, the power transmission system A according to the present embodiment is, for instance, a power transmission system based on a wireless power supply system that wirelessly transmits charging power (alternating current (AC) power) from acharging facility 100 installed at a predetermined location such as in a parking lot to anelectric vehicle 200 via a space transmission path (transmission path) 300. The power transmission system A includes a power transmittingdevice 10 mounted at the side of thecharging facility 100, and apower receiving device 20 mounted at the side of theelectric vehicle 200.
The power transmittingdevice 10 wirelessly transmits alternating current power supplied from an AC power source 30 (for example, a commercial power source having a single-phase voltage of 200 V and a frequency of 50 or 60 Hz) provided at the side of thecharging facility 100 via thespace transmission path 300. The power transmittingdevice 10 includes anamplifier 11 and a power-transmittingside resonator 12.
Theamplifier 11 is an AC converting device that performs AC-AC conversion on the AC power supplied from theAC power source 30 and outputs the AC power obtained by the AC-AC conversion to the power-transmittingside resonance coil 12. To be specific, theamplifier 11 includes arectifier circuit 11a that converts the AC power supplied from theAC power source 30 into direct current (DC) power, aninverter 11b that converts the DC power output from therectifier circuit 11a into AC power having a predetermined voltage and a predetermined frequency and outputs the converted AC power to the power-transmittingside resonance coil 12, and a power-transmittingside control device 11c that performs pulse-width-modulation (PWM) control on a switching element such as a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) constituting theinverter 11b. In the present embodiment, therectifier circuit 11a and theinverter 11b are equivalent to an AC converter of the present invention.
The power-transmittingside control device 11c performs the PWM control on the switching element constituting theinverter 11b (that is, controls a duty cycle of the switching element) to control the voltage and frequency of the AC power output from theinverter 11b. In addition, the power-transmittingside control device 11c has a function of performing radio communication with a power-receivingside control device 23d (to be described below) using a short-range radio communication standard such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) via anantenna 11d.
The power-transmittingside resonance coil 12 is a helical coil wound in a spiral shape in order to wirelessly transmit the AC power input from theamplifier 11 via thespace transmission path 300 under a magnetic field resonance method. The power-transmittingside resonance coil 12 constitutes an LC resonance circuit along with a capacitor (not shown).
As the capacitor for constituting the LC resonance circuit, parasitic capacitance of the helical coil may be used, or a capacitor element may be separately provided.
Thepower receiving device 20 wirelessly receives the AC power wirelessly transmitted from the power transmittingdevice 10 via thespace transmission path 300, converts the received AC power into DC power for charging, and supplies the converted DC power to astorage battery 40 such as a lithium-ion battery mounted at the side of theelectric vehicle 200. Thepower receiving device 20 includes a power-receivingside resonance coil 21, arectifier 22, and a DC-DC converter 23.
The power-receivingside resonance coil 21 is a helical coil wound in a spiral shape in order to wirelessly receive the AC power from the power-transmittingside resonance coil 12 via thespace transmission path 300. The power-receivingside resonance coil 21 constitutes an LC resonance circuit along with a capacitor (not shown). When each circuit constant is set so that resonance frequencies of the LC resonance circuits of the power transmitting 10 and thepower receiving device 20 are equal to each other, it is possible to generate magnetic field resonance between the power-transmittingside resonance coil 12 and the power-receivingside resonance coil 21.
When the magnetic field resonance is generated, the AC power output from theamplifier 11 is converted into magnetic energy by the power-transmittingside resonance coil 12 and is wirelessly transmitted. The magnetic energy is reconverted into the AC power by the power-receivingside resonance coil 21. The AC power obtained from the power-receivingside resonance coil 21 is output to therectifier 22 provided at the following stage. Therectifier 22 rectifies the AC power input from the power-receivingside resonance coil 21, that is, converts the AC power into DC power, and outputs the obtained DC power to the DC-DC converter 23.
The DC-DC converter 23 performs DC-DC conversion on the DC power input from therectifier 22, and outputs the obtained DC power to thestorage battery 40 as charging DC power. To be specific, the DC-DC converter 23 includes a step-down switching circuit (DC converter) 23a that steps down the DC power input from therectifier 22 depending on an on-off action of a switching element such as a MOSFET, agate drive circuit 23b that generates a gate signal for turning on or off the switching element, a regulator (power-source circuit) 23c that generates a control power voltage Vc from an output voltage Vr of therectifier 22 and outputs the generated control power voltage Vc to the power-receivingside control device 23d, and the power-receivingside control device 23d that performs the PWM control on the switching element of the step-down switching circuit 23a via thegate drive circuit 23b. The step-down switching circuit 23a is a circuit that performs the DC conversion on the DC power output from therectifier 22 and is equivalent to the DC converter of the present invention.
The power-receivingside control device 23d includes anantenna 23e and has a function of performing radio communication with the power-transmittingside control device 11c using a short-range radio communication standard such as Bluetooth (registered trademark). After the power-receivingside control device 23d is activated by the input of the control power voltage Vc from theregulator 23c, the power-receivingside control device 23d measures the output voltage Vr of therectifier 22 and transmits a measurement result to the power-transmittingside control device 11c. The power-transmittingside control device 11c controls the amplifier 11 (inverter 11b) so that the output voltage of therectifier 22 is gradually raised for a period from a transmission start time of the AC power (that is, a time when transmission of the AC power starts between the power-transmittingside resonance coil 12 and the power-receiving side resonance coil 21) to a time when the measurement result of the output voltage Vr of therectifier 22 is received from the power-receivingside control device 23d. After the power-transmittingside control device 11c receives the measurement result, the power-transmittingside control device 11c controls theamplifier 11 based on the measurement result so that the output voltage Vr of therectifier 22 becomes a suitable value as the input voltage of the DC-DC converter 23.
Next, an operation of the power transmission system A configured as described above according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference toFig. 2. Fig. 2 is a timing chart showing a temporal correspondence among the output voltage Vr of the rectifier 22 (that is, the input voltage of the DC-DC converter 23), the control power voltage Vc (that is, the output voltage of theregulator 23c), and an operating state of the power-receivingside control device 23d.
When theelectric vehicle 200 stops near a location at which thecharging facility 100 is installed, the power-transmittingside control device 11c of the power transmittingdevice 10 starts to perform the PWM control on theamplifier 11 so that the output voltage Vr of therectifier 22 is gradually raised from the transmission start time t1 of the AC power which is shown inFig. 2. As a result, at the side of thepower transmitting device 10, the AC power depending on the PWM control by the power-transmittingside control device 11c is output from theamplifier 11 to the power-transmittingside resonance coil 12, and magnetic field resonance is generated between the power-transmittingside resonance coil 12 and the power-receivingside resonance coil 21.
When the magnetic field resonance is generated, the AC power output from theamplifier 11 is transmitted (wirelessly transmitted) from the power-transmittingside resonance coil 12 to the power-receivingside resonance coil 21. At the side of the power-receivingdevice 20, the AC power received by the power-receivingside resonance coil 21 is converted into DC power by therectifier 22 and is input to the DC-DC converter 23. At this point of time, the power-transmittingside control device 11c does not receive a measurement result of the output voltage Vr of therectifier 22 from the power-receivingside control device 23d, and thus controls the amplifier 11 (inverter 11b) so that the output voltage of therectifier 22 is gradually raised. Accordingly, as shown inFig. 2, the output voltage Vr of therectifier 22 is gradually raised over time from the transmission start time t1.
InFig. 2, the control power voltage Vc output from theregulator 23c is 0 V (ground level) for a period from the transmission start time t1 to time t2 when the output voltage Vr of therectifier 22 rises to an operable voltage Vr1 of theregulator 23c, and the power-receivingside control device 23d is a halt state. When the output voltage Vr of therectifier 22 rises to the operable voltage Vr1 of theregulator 23c at the time t2, theregulator 23c starts to operate at the time t2. Due to the operation of theregulator 23c, the control power voltage Vc is sharply raised to the 5 V required as the source voltage for the power-receivingside control device 23d.
When the control power voltage Vc of 5 V is output from theregulator 23c to the power-receivingside control device 23d at the time t2, the power-receivingside control device 23d is activated from the halt state. The activated power-receivingside control device 23d measures the output voltage Vr of therectifier 22 in a given control cycle (transmission cycle) after the time t2 and transmits a measurement result to the power-transmittingside control device 11c. When the power-transmittingside control device 11c receives the measurement result of the output voltage Vr of therectifier 22 from the power-receivingside control device 23d, the power-transmittingside control device 11c performs PWM control on theamplifier 11 based on the measurement result so that the output voltage Vr of therectifier 22 becomes a suitable value as the input voltage of the DC-DC converter 23 (that is, the value is an operable voltage Vr2 of the DC-DC converter 23).
As a result, as shown inFig. 2, the output voltage Vr of therectifier 22 rises toward the operable voltage Vr2 of the DC-DC converter 23 from the time t2. When the output voltage Vr of therectifier 22 reaches the operable voltage Vr2 of the DC-DC converter 23 at time t3, the power-receivingside control device 23d starts control of the DC-DC converter 23, that is, charging control of thestorage battery 40. The power-receivingside control device 23d transmits a notification that the output voltage Vr of therectifier 22 reaches the operable voltage Vr2 of the DC-DC converter 23 to the power-transmittingside control device 11c. With the reception of the notification, the power-transmittingside control device 11c performs the PWM control on theamplifier 11 so that the output voltage Vr of therectifier 22 is constant at Vr2.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, as the output voltage Vr of therectifier 22 is gradually raised in a state in which the impedance is not matched (that is, in a state in which the DC-DC converter 23 does not operate) at the power transmission start time, it is possible to prevent damage to the devices, components, and the like of the entire system including the DC-DC converter 23. After the power-receivingside control device 23d is surely activated, as the output voltage Vr of therectifier 22 is raised to the operable voltage Vr2 of the DC-DC converter 23, it is possible to prevent unexpected trouble such as overrun of the DC-DC converter 23. In addition, no power storage device for preventing the overrun of the DC-DC converter 23 needs to be separately prepared, and a rise in cost can also be suppressed.
The present invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodiment, but is limited only by the appended claims. All the shapes and combinations of the components shown in the aforementioned embodiment are only examples, and additions, omissions, substitutions, and other modifications of the constitution are possible based on, for instance, design requirements without departing from the present invention as defined by the appended claims. For example, the following modifications are given.
For example, in the aforementioned embodiment, the power transmission system A based on the wireless power supply method that wirelessly transmits the charging power (AC power) from the chargingfacility 100 to theelectric vehicle 200 via thespace transmission path 300 is given by way of example. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the present invention may also be applied to a power transmission system that transmits power to a portable terminal using the wireless power supply system and charges a battery of the portable terminal. In addition, without being limited to the DC-DC converter 23, the present invention may also be applied to another secondary side device (power-receiving side device). Further, theamplifier 11 may include power factor correction (PFC) as needed.
In the aforementioned embodiment, the example in which the power source provided at the side of thecharging facility 100 is theAC power source 30 is given. However, when the power source is a DC power source, that is, when the DC power is supplied from the power source to thepower transmitting device 10, therectifier circuit 11a may be removed from theamplifier 11. That is, the DC power may be directly supplied from the power source to theinverter 11b (in this case, theinverter 11b is equivalent to the AC converter of the present invention). Also, a system in which AC power or DC power is supplied from anything other than a power source may be configured.
The activation of the power-receivingside control device 23d starts at the time t2; however, a predetermined time (activation time) may be required from the time t2 to the completion of activating the power-receivingside control device 23d. In this case, the measurement result of the power-receivingside control device 23d with respect to the output voltage Vr of therectifier 22 is not transmitted to the power-transmittingside control device 11c until the activation time has elapsed from the time t2. For this reason, the output voltage Vr gradually continues to rise at the same increment rate as that between the time t1 and the time t2 until the activation time has elapsed from the time t2. Accordingly, the increment rate of the output voltage Vr between the time t1 and the time t2 is preferably set so that the output voltage Vr does not exceed the operable voltage Vr2 (or the withstanding voltage value of the step-downswitching circuit 23a) until the activation time has elapsed.

Industrial Applicability

The present invention can be applied to a power transmission system in which power can be supplied wirelessly.

Description of Reference Signs

A:: power transmission system
10:: power transmitting device
11a:: rectifier circuit (AC converter)
11b:: inverter (AC converter)
11c:: power-transmitting side control device
12:: power-transmitting side resonance coil
20:: power receiving device
21:: power-receiving side resonance coil
22:: rectifier
23a:: step-down switching circuit (DC converter)
23c:: regulator (power-source circuit)
23d:: power-receiving side control device
30:: AC power supply
40:: storage battery
100:: charging facility
200:: electric vehicle
300:: space transmission path (transmission path)

Claims

A power transmission system (A) comprising:
a power transmitting device (10) configured to convert supplied alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power into AC power and transmit the converted AC power via a transmission path (300); and
a power receiving device (20) configured to receive the AC power via the transmission path (300),
wherein the power transmitting device (10) comprises:
an AC converter (11a, 11b) configured to perform AC conversion on the supplied AC power or DC power;
a power-transmitting side resonance coil (12) configured to wirelessly transmit the AC power obtained from the AC converter (11a, 11b) under a magnetic field resonance method; and
a power-transmitting side control device (11c) configured to control the AC converter (11a, 11b),
wherein the power receiving device (20) comprises:
a power-receiving side resonance coil (21) configured to wirelessly receive the AC power from the power-transmitting side resonance coil (12);
a rectifier (22) configured to convert the AC power received by the power-receiving side resonance coil (21) into the DC power;
a DC converter (23a) configured to perform DC conversion on the DC power output from the rectifier (22); and
a power-receiving side control device (23d) configured to control the DC converter (23a);
characterized in that,
the power receiving device (20) further comprises
a power-source circuit (23c) configured to generate a control power voltage from an output voltage of the rectifier (22) and output the generated control power voltage to the power-receiving side control device (23d),
wherein the power-receiving side control device (23d) is configured to measure the output voltage of the rectifier (22) after being activated by input of the control power voltage and to transmit a measurement result to the power-transmitting side control device (11c), and
wherein the power-transmitting side control device (11c) is configured to control the AC converter (11a, 11b) for a period from a transmission start time of the AC power to a time when the measurement result of the output voltage of the rectifier (22) is received so that the output voltage of the rectifier (22) is gradually raised without exceeding a value suitable as an input voltage of the DC converter (23a), and, after receiving the measurement result, to control the AC converter (11a, 11b) based on the measurement result so that the output voltage of the rectifier (22) becomes the suitable value.
The power transmission system (A) according to claim 1, wherein the power-receiving side control device (23d) is configured to start to control the DC converter (23a) when the output voltage of the rectifier (22) becomes the suitable value as the input voltage of the DC converter (23a).